Chapter 5
Cells and their Components
![What are Cells?](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12433.jpg)
Cells are the smallest and basic units of life, whether it is a single cell that forms the entire organism, e.g., in a bacterium, or trillions of…
![Cell Diversity](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/13911.jpg)
The concept of a cell started with microscopic observations of dead cork tissue by Robert Hooke in 1665. Hooke coined the term "cell" based…
![The Nucleus](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12440.jpg)
The nucleus is a membrane-bound organelle that acts as a control center in a eukaryotic cell. It contains chromosomal DNA, which controls gene…
![The Nucleosome](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/13914.jpg)
Human DNA is almost two meters long. However, it is compressed inside a tiny nucleus measuring only a few microns in diameter. To make this degree of…
![Chromatin Packaging](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/13915.jpg)
Each human somatic cell contains 6 billion base pairs of DNA. Each base pair is 0.34 nm long, meaning each diploid cell contains a staggering 2…
![The Endoplasmic Reticulum](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12123.jpg)
The endoplasmic reticulum or ER makes up for more than half of the membranes in a cell and accounts for 10% of total cell volume. It is also the…
![Lysosomes](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/11961.jpg)
Lysosomes are membrane-enclosed spherical sacs derived from the Golgi apparatus. The most important function of the lysosome is degrading…
![Mitochondria](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/11896.jpg)
Mitochondria are eukaryotic cellular organelles that are known to produce energy through a process called oxidative phosphorylation. Besides their…
![Peroxisomes](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12133.jpg)
Peroxisomes are specialized organelles present in fungi, plant, and animal cells. It can vary in number, size, morphology, and activity depending on…
![Ribosomes](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/13130.jpg)
Ribosomes translate genetic information encoded by messenger RNA (mRNA) into proteins. Both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells have ribosomes. Cells…
![The Proteasome](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/13923.jpg)
Eukaryotic cells can degrade proteins through several pathways. One of the most important among these is the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. It helps…
![Introduction to the Cytoskeleton](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/11788.jpg)
Overview of the Cytoskeleton
The cytoskeleton is a network of protein filaments present within the cell, having three distinct filaments…
![Microtubules in Cell Motility](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/11914.jpg)
Microtubules are thick hollow cylindrical proteins that help form the cytoskeleton. Microtubules have varied roles in the cell. These filaments help…
![Mechanism of Ciliary Motion](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/13108.jpg)
The ciliary structures were first seen in 1647 by Antonie Leeuwenhoek while observing the protozoans. In lower organisms, these appendages are…
![CRISPR-Mediated Reorganization of Chromatin Loop Structure](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/thumbs/57457_t.png)
CRISPR-Mediated Reorganization of Chromatin Loop Structure
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Recent studies have clearly shown that long-range, three-dimensional chromatin looping interactions play a significant role in the regulation of gene…
![Assembly of Nucleosomal Arrays from Recombinant Core Histones and Nucleosome Positioning DNA](https://cloudfront.jove.com/files/thumbs/50354_t.png)
Core histone octamers that are repetitively spaced along a DNA molecule are called nucleosomal arrays. Nucleosomal arrays are obtained in one of two…